Our Cruising Experiences

By Jerry Ault

The purpose of this book is to give the reader an idea of what cruises are available from
the US ports. It shows the duration of different cruises and the cruise lines that sail
from each of the US ports.
Hotels/motels are listed for some of the departure ports. Transportation for some
departure ports is also listed.
For each of the Caribbean Islands that we visited, I listed a little about its history. I also
listed the sights to see and what shopping is available.
And fi nally at the end, I give a brief description of each of our fi fty-one cruises.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493168040

Book preview

Contents

Caribbean Islands And Other Cruise Destinations

Anguilla

Antigua

Aruba

Barbados

Belize

Bonaire

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Colombia

Costa Rica

Curacao

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Grenada

Guadeloupe

Guatemala

Honduras

Jamaica

Margarita Island (Venezuela)

Martinique

Mexico

Cabo San Lucas

Calica

Costa Maya

Cozumel

Mazatlan

Progreso

Puerto Vallarta

Panama

San Blas Islands

Puerto Rico

St. Barths

St. Kitts/Nevis

St. Lucia

St. Maarten./St. Martin

St. Vincent/Grenadine

Trinidad/Tobago

Turks And Caicos

Us Virgin Islands

St. Croix

St. John

St. Thomas

Venezuela

Other Cruise Ship Ports

Haiti

Bahamas

New Providence Island

Grand Bahama Island

Bermuda

Santa Catalina Island

Key West, Florida

San Diego, California

Port Canaveral, Florida

Italy

Rome

Naples, Italy

Venice, Italy

Croatia

Sicily

Spain

France

Book Summary

Jerry’s Bio

We have taken fifty-one cruises up to this time: Regency, four; Dolphin, two; Costa, five; NCL, six; RCCL, fourteen; Celebrity, three; Princess ten; Carnival, four; Holland America, two; MSC, one.

We have taken cruises to Bermuda (three), Mexican Riviera (one), European (one), Panama Canal Transit (one), Bahamas (two), Western Caribbean (thirteen), Eastern Caribbean (sixteen), and Southern Caribbean (fourteen).

We have taken cruises from Baltimore; Bayonne, New Jersey; New York; Norfolk; Tampa; Fort Lauderdale; Miami; Houston; Port Canaveral, Florida; San Francisco; Rome, Italy; and San Juan.

The cruise lines that use Baltimore as a departure port are Carnival and Royal Caribbean. The cruise lengths are six, seven, eight, and ten days going to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada/New England, and the Caribbean.

The cruise lines that use Cape Liberty, New Jersey (Bayonne), are Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, with cruise lengths of five, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and fourteen days. The cruises from here go to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada/New England, and the Caribbean.

The cruise lines that depart from New York (Manhattan) are Carnival, Holland America, and Norwegian. The cruise lengths are four, five, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and fourteen days. The cruises from here go to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada/New England, and the Caribbean.

The cruise line that uses Brooklyn, New York, as a departure port is the Princess. The cruise lengths are seven and ten days. The cruises go to Canada/New England.

The cruise line that utilizes Norfolk, Virginia, is Carnival, with cruises of five days going to the Bahamas. The cruise lines that use Tampa, Florida, as a departure port are Carnival, Holland America, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. The cruise lengths are four, five, seven, eight, fourteen, and twenty-one days. The cruises go to the Caribbean and Mexico/Central America.

The cruise lines that use Fort Lauderdale as their departure port are Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. The cruise lengths are four, five, six, seven, eight, ten, eleven, fourteen, twenty, twenty-six, and twenty-eight days. The cruises go to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico/Central America, Panama Canal, and South America.

The cruise lines that depart from Miami are Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Disney, MSC, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. The cruise lengths are three, four, five, six, seven, eight, ten, and eleven days. The destinations are the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Mexico/Central America.

The cruise lines that depart from Port Canaveral are Carnival, Disney, and Royal Caribbean for three, four, five, and seven days. These cruises go to the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Mexico/Central America.

The cruise line that uses the port of Houston is the Princess, with cruises of four or seven days. The destinations are the Caribbean or Mexico/Central America.

The cruise lines that depart from San Francisco are Celebrity and Princess. They have seven-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, and fifteen-day cruises to Alaska, California/Mexico, Hawaii, and Mexico/Central Mexico.

The cruise lines that use San Juan as a departure port are Carnival, Celebrity, Disney, and Royal Caribbean. These are all seven days and go to the Southern Caribbean.

Other Continental US departure ports are Boston; Charleston, South Carolina; Galveston, Texas; Jacksonville, Florida; Long Beach, California; Los Angeles, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; San Diego, California; and Seattle, Washington.

The cruise lines that leave from Boston are Carnival, Holland America, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. They have four-, five-, seven-, and fourteen-day cruises going to Bermuda and Canada/New England.

The cruise line that departs from Charleston, South Carolina, is Carnival for five-and seven-day cruises to the Bahamas.

The cruise lines that depart from Galveston, Texas, are Carnival, Disney, and Royal Caribbean. The cruises are for four, five, and seven days to the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Mexico/Central America.

Carnival has four-and five-day cruises leaving Jacksonville, Florida, to the Bahamas. Carnival cruises depart Long Beach, California, for Hawaii and Mexico/Central America with cruises of three, four, six, seven, and fifteen days.

Los Angeles, California, has Celebrity, Norwegian, and Princess leaving from here. The cruises are three, four, six, seven, ten, and fifteen days to Hawaii, Mexico/Central America, and the Pacific Northwest.

New Orleans, Louisiana, is the home port for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian cruise lines. The cruises are for four, five, six, or seven days and go to the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Mexico/Central America.

The cruise lines that depart from San Diego, California, are Celebrity and Holland America. They have seven-, twelve-, fifteen-, seventeen-, and eighteen-day cruises going to Hawaii and Mexico/Central Mexico.

The cruise lines that depart from Seattle, Washington, are Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. The cruises are for seven days and go to Alaska.

The first step in preparing for a cruise is to obtain cruise brochures from the cruise lines. This can be done by calling the cruise lines, requesting them from their Web sites, or obtaining them from a travel agent. I would recommend the following cruise lines for the first-time cruiser. The toll free numbers and Web addresses follow:

Most cruise lines will give you extra perks if you sail with them for a certain number of times. Some perks are the following: cabin upgrade, free Internet time, special breakfast, gifts, discount for onboard purchases, onboard credit, and free drinks. Also, some cruise lines will give military discounts and onboard credit if you served in the military.

Princess will give veterans on-board credit but you must show your DD214.

The next step is to determine the cruise areas, which there are many. You can cruise to Alaska, Bermuda, Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, South America, etc. I would recommend the Caribbean for the first-time cruiser. Next is to select the east, west, or south Caribbean. I would recommend the east or west from Florida. I think the Fort Lauderdale Airport is very easy to get in and out, so I would recommend cruising from here for your first cruise. The cruise lines that use Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) are Carnival, Celebrity Costa, Crystal, Cunard, Holland America, MSC, Premier, Princess, Radisson Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, and Royal Olympic.

The best time to go on a cruise would be early January, April, May, September, November, or early December for the best rates.

The next step is to select a type of cabin. There are inside, ocean view, balcony, and suite. We prefer an ocean view or balcony, depending on price. You must be careful when selecting a cabin. You don’t want a cabin under a lounge or eating area because it might be noisy at various times of the day or night. One disadvantage of selecting an inside cabin is that you won’t know if it’s day or night when you’re in your cabin. You should look at this way. How much time are you going to spend in your cabin.

I like to research cruises on the Internet by using some of the following Web sites for prices and itineraries. Find the cruise that you want at a decent price. You can either book online or take your information to a travel agent and bargain for the price that you want to pay. Web sites:

We like to fly to our port of departure a day before the cruise ship leaves. That way, you can get rested for the cruise. We usually have our travel agent book our own air and not the cruise lines. This can save you $100 or more. I look for hotels/motels that have shuttle service between the airport/hotel and between the hotel/cruise ports.

Precruise hotels: The cruise line hotels are usually more expensive, so here is a brief list of hotels that we have used or checked on. There are two Web sites that I found that have park, stay, and cruise packages, which give cheaper rates than the hotels do. They are stay123.com and parksleepfly.com.

Some Hotels/Motels

Baltimore, Maryland-Sleep Inn & Suites (6055 Belle Grove Road, Baltimore, Maryland) (410-789-7223) They have an LPARK rate of $134.47, which includes taxes. This will give you a free breakfast, transportation to and from the cruise line pier, and you can leave your car here while you’re gone.

Comfort Inn BWI Airport (6921 Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland) [phone]. They have a rate of $129.

Hampton Inn BWI Airport (829 Elkridge Landing Road, Linthicum, Maryland) [phone].

Holiday Inn Express (1701 Russell St., Baltimore, Maryland) [phone]) They have a free hot breakfast. Their rate is $118.36, with free parking for seven days, $5 for each additional day.

Fort Lauderdale-Comfort Suites Airport & Cruise Port (1800 S. Federal Highway) They offer a free shuttle to/from the airport and cruise port. They also have a free continental breakfast.

Comfort Inn Airport/Port South (2520 Sterling Road, Hollywood, Florida) They have a free shuttle to/from the airport and cruise port. They also have a free deluxe breakfast bar with hot and cold items.

Days Inn Hollywood/Airport South (2601 N. 29th Avenue Hollywood, Florida) They have a free shuttle to/from the airport but charge a fee to/from the cruise port. They also have a free continental breakfast. There is a Denny’s next door, which is open for twenty-four hours a day.

Holiday Inn Express Fort Lauderdale Convention Center (1500 southeast Seventeenth Causeway, Fort Lauderdale) They have a free shuttle to/from airport and cruise port. They also have a free continental breakfast.

Houston Courtyard by Marriott-It has a nice indoor pool, whirlpool, and exercise room. They have a free shuttle to/from the Bush Airport. They also have a courtesy shuttle that will take you to nearby restaurants and malls. They also have a buffet breakfast, which will cost you.

Sleep Inn Bush Airport-This has a free airport shuttle and a free continental breakfast. Best Western International Airport Inn-This has a free airport shuttle and a free continental breakfast. Area restaurants include Denny’s, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Waffle House.

Miami, Florida—Midtown Inn (Biscayne Boulevard) They have a shuttle to/from the airport and cruise ship pier. They also have a continental breakfast. Taco Bell, Denny’s, and Wendy’s are close by.

Norfolk, Virginia—Americas Best Value Inn (231 N. Military Highway, Norfolk) This place has a free shuttle to/from the Norfolk Airport and the cruise port, which is only ten minutes away. They also have a free continental breakfast and a Grate Steak restaurant on site. They also have an indoor and outdoor pool. You can also leave your car here (at no charge) while you are on a cruise.

Orlando—Fairfield Inn Orlando-They have a free airport shuttle. They also charge $50 round-trip to the Port Canaveral cruise port.

San Francisco—Travelodge Fisherman’s Wharf North (1201 Columbus Avenue) (415-776-7070) This is only a few blocks from the cruise port (Pier #35) and Fisherman’s Wharf (Pier #39). Denny’s restaurant is within walking distance.

San Juan—Comfort Inn (#6 Clemenceau Street) (787-721-0170) They have a free continental breakfast.

Holiday Inn (1 Mariano Ramirez Rages Street) (787-724-4160) They have free Internet service.

Tampa—Howard Johnson Hotel-Tampa Airport/Stadium (2055 N. Mabry, Tampa) They have a free shuttle to/from the Tampa Airport. They charge $10 per person to/from the cruise port. Longhorn restaurant is next-door, which has excellent food.

Comfort Inn Airport at RJ Stadium (4732 N. Mabry, Tampa) They have a free airport shuttle and charge a fee to/from the cruise port. They have a free continental breakfast. They also have a courtesy shuttle to nearby restaurants and malls.

LaQuinta Inn Tampa Bay Airport (4730 Spruce St., Tampa, Florida) Free airport shuttle. They charge a fee to the cruise port. They also have a free continental breakfast.

Tampa-Days Inn Airport/Stadium (2522 N. Mabry, Tampa) They have a free shuttle to/from the airport and a free continental breakfast.

Transportation

Allentown/Bethlehem, Pennsylvania—Trans-Bridge Bus Lines has a bus that goes from the Allentown-Bethlehem area to Cape Liberty (Bayonne, New Jersey) and to the New York (Manhattan) piers. Prices are very reasonable.

Tampa—Super shuttle from the Tampa cruise port to the Tampa Airport costs $12.50 per person. Holland America charges $18 per person from the cruise port to the Tampa Airport.

Houston—A cab from the Bush Airport to the NCL cruise port at La Porte costs about $85. NCL charges $20 per person from the Bush Airport to the NCL cruise port in Houston.

San Francisco—Super shuttle from the San Francisco airport to most hotels costs $15 per person one way. It costs $15 for each additional person. Their telephone number is [phone] or [phone]. Their Web site is www.supershuttle.com.

Princess Cruises charges $27 per person one way